Draft attachment for vehicles.



PATENTED JUNE 16, 1903.

H M; ZIMMERMAN. DRAFT ATTACFHMLENT FOR VEHICLES.

APPBIO A'IIQH' FILED JAN. 10, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

Patented June 16, 1903.

DRAFT ATTACHMENT FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 731,411, dated June 16, 1903..

Application filed January 10, 1903. Serial No. 138,454. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY MARTIN ZIM- MERMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Plumville, in the county of Indiana and State of Pennsylvania, have in vented a new and useful Improvement in Draft Attachments for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in draft attachments for vehicles, and my idea is to obviate the objection to vehicle shafts or thills as now constructed, which resides in a weakness in the swingletree and cross-bar, and particularly in the latter, where all of the strain of draft falls, and in myinvention instead of applying the draft to the cross-bar it is applied directly upon the side bars of the shafts or thills or upon the shafts or thills proper, so that no hole is formed in the cross-bar to weaken it and cause it to break.

My invention further consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view.

A A represent the side bars of the shafts or thills, and B is the usual cross-bar, connecting them together.

G G are strengthening-plates screwed or bolted tothe under side of the shaft or thills for holding them rigidly in place, and these are bent at their rear ends to form couplings 1 1, by which they are coupled to the vehicle.

The draft attachment consists of a plate 2, preferably cast from malleable iron and securely screwed or bolted to the shafts at a point preferably at the end of the cross-bar, but not on the latter, there being one of these plates opposite each end of the cross-bar. A hub is formed at the center of each plate, preferably on two diameters 3 and 4., and a turret-plate 5 is counterbored, as at 6 and 7, to correspond with and fit these two hubs. A bolt 8 passes down through the center of the turret-plate, the inner hub, and the plates 0 O, and nuts 9 9 on their lower end retain them in position. These turret-plates have hooks 1O 10 thereon raised above thesurface of the plates, to which the traces 11 11 are hooked. A connecting-bar 12, pivoted to a lug on each turret-plate, causes them to move in unison.

It will be observed from the foregoing that all strain is removed from the cross-bar to .The construction of the turret-plates is such that dirt and other extraneous material are excluded from the bearing, the turret-plate forming a cap therefor. Another advantage of my present construction resides in the fact that the bolts which hold the turret-plates in place extend on through the plates 0 C, so that the latter sustain a portion of the draft.

I am familiar with certain patentsin which the patentees have sought to dispense with the swingletree; but I know of nonein which the cross-bar is not utilized to receive the application of the draft. In my invention the cross-bar merely serves the function intended, which is to hold the side bars of the shafts or thills apart as well as connect them; but the application of the draft in my invention is confined to these side bars and is never on the cross-bar.

My improved attachment can be applied to old shafts or thills by simply removing the swingletree, or it may of course be applied to new ones, which is really my intention.

It is evident a simple and inexpensive attachment is provided by my invention which may be easily and quickly applied to either old or new shafts.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a pair of shafts or thills, of plates secured thereto, said plates having concentric hubs of different diameters, turret-plates counterbored to fit these hubs, a bolt for pivotally securing each tur- Iobars at the juncture between them and the cross-bar, and bolts extending through the cross and side bars, and T-shaped plates, to which bolts the turret-plates are pivoted.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subserib- 15 ing witnesses.

HARRY MARTIN ZIMMERMAN. Witnesses:

W. R. STICHEL, I. S. ZIMMERMAN. 

